A wide range of content is available for download to communications/internet enabled devices such as mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, connected TVs, laptop and desktop computers. With the explosion in recent years of smartphones and tablets, there is also a move further towards using portable devices for more and more on-line transactions that were, until only a few years ago, reserved for desktop and laptop computers in the home or office.
The range of transactions now performed on portable devices ranges from small transactions such as the purchase of a ring-tone, acquiring credits for use on on-line portals, booking cinema and theatre tickets, through to grocery shopping and holidays. Many of these transactions are enabled through the use of on-line payments and billing platforms, which optimize and present the “on screen” user experience when a person makes a purchase on a mobile internet capable device.
For many of these transactions, more often those at the lower end of the price range, one method of payment is through a mobile network operator (MNO). A payment server may communicate with a MNO billing platform to identify and bill a user by charging the transaction to their mobile network account. Billing to a mobile network account is preferable for many users and transactions as it simplifies the transaction process, meaning no new credit card details need to be entered for each transaction, avoiding the transmission of personal data, and making the process quick and easy. It also means users without a credit card are still able to purchase items via their mobile phone/data account.
Performing this process requires identification of the user's mobile network account which is linked to a SIM, in the mobile device. This means that MNO-based billing is only possible when the transaction is performed over a mobile network, so that this identifier information can be obtained and tied to the transaction.
Data usage on cellular networks is becoming increasingly problematic for mobile network operators as media rich content including streaming and downloading is delivered to mobile devices. Where, previously, MNOs were keen to restrict mobile devices to using their own mobile networks only, effectively to ‘lock in’ users, the use of smart phones and tablets with other forms of connectivity has led to users making use of alternative communications infrastructure such as WiFi—something mobile operators are willing to accept to alleviate demands placed on the mobile network infrastructure. Moreover, even users themselves, provided with devices having media-rich capabilities, continue to use such devices in the home or office where WiFi connections are available providing increased bandwidth, data rates and to avoid using any allowance imposed on mobile (cellular) data access. Furthermore, when a user is abroad, data roaming costs can be prohibitively expensive for many users, meaning that users prefer to use other connections where possible for downloading content.
However, a downside of moving to the use of other networks, such as WiFi networks (or more generally wireless local area networks) that are not part of a mobile/cellular network is that a user is no longer able to bill a purchase to their mobile network account as the unique identifiers provided by the SIM (communicated as part of a transaction over the mobile network) are no longer available to a billing platform. There is therefore a need to provide systems and methods to retain such billing capabilities.